Some years ago I was house shopping and agreed to go see a rambling multi-unit in a local town. The Realtor who met me for the walk-through cautioned it had some "unique" qualities.

Unique indeed. One of them turned out to be a tenant in one of the apartments. She was a very sweet older lady who stayed out of our way with a cat in her arms as we climbed through a maze of stacks of magazines, books and boxes of stuff.

Every surface in every room, including the stove-top and bed, was covered in odd things you see at yard sales and sold on TV info-mercials. I remember thinking to myself, "something is very weird here."

That was before Reality TV seized upon anything odd or dangerous in our society and brought us "Hoarding" and "Buried Alive." Most of us did not even know there was a name for such an affliction. I certainly didn't. I just remember wondering how this poor woman would ever move all of her stuff out if I bought the place -- which I thankfully did not.

Now we all know it's called hoarding. Some studies have estimated almost 4 percent of our population has this affliction.

Ever look at your cluttered bedroom or the desktop of your office-mate and wondered, "Am I becoming one of those people? Are they?"

The housing market is finally picking up. During these years of property stagnation many homes have been turned into rentals for those who can't qualify to buy or have left foreclosed homes. Some of them will be hoarders. It's often only when a new prospective landlord forces themselves in that these people are discovered.

This is when a business that started in 2003 to take care of housing issues surrounding the elderly who wanted to remain in their homes has found a niche dealing with hoarders. Community House Calls, based in Chester, has even set up a division called Healthy Homes Today to deal with the issue.

They work with an average of one client a week who is a hoarder, said Newmarket resident Pam Manes, the firm's director of service development.

Healthy Homes focuses on New Hampshire but also has customers in Maine and Massachusetts. It works with social service agencies or families to either clean up a dwelling so it is safe, or relocate a person. Often they get a call to act from a concerned family member. Sometimes it's a landlord who is buying a property or finally has realized what's gone on behind a closed door. Rarely is it the hoarders themselves who call for help.

Mostly, Manes and her colleagues try to gently deal with the people problem because that's what they're all about. They are more health care providers than dumpster contractors. The staff includes educators and social workers.

"People think of hoarders as dirty or people who are collecting on purpose. Often these are just people who are overwhelmed by their obsessive compulsive behavior," said Manes.

She has seen a lot in 10 years working with the problem. It always has been an issue in society but hidden away and rarely discussed until now.

There have been clients who are sleeping in their bathtub. There have been professionals you would not suspect. There have been 20-somethings and a 92-year-old. Sometimes action must be taken quickly because health authorities have condemned the property. Other times a family member has decided grandma's collecting has gotten a bit out of hand when she can't squeeze out of her front door.

Many hoarders are shy and secretive; some are combative.

It takes a gentle but firm professional to deal with the issue. Healthy Homes will charge by the job or the hour. It brings in a dumpster if needed, but prefers to work with the hoarder to help them remove the mess. A lot will be thrown away but if more can be given to Goodwill or other charities all the better.

Manes said the affliction is present in all societies. But we make it easier to hoard with TV shopping channels, garage sales and flea markets everywhere.